McDonald, 24, has arrived from nowhere (OK, Morwell in rural
Victoria; Southampton, Huddersfield, Bournemouth and Motherwell).
Before this weekend he had scored 29 times in 49 appearances in his
first season with the Scottish giants. Two goals against Rangers
last weekend blew open the Scottish title race and made the
reported £750,000 ($1.5 million) Celtic paid Motherwell for
McDonald, just 173 centimetres tall, one of the bargains of the
year. Some may claim the Scottish Premier League is lightweight
compared with Europe's elite competitions - they would be right -
but Champions League goals against Spartak Moscow and a crucial
winner against Milan added to the Australian's resume. If McDonald
can repeat that form for Australia, we may have a new hero.

2. Zeljko Kalac, AC Milan:Laidback giant
has the last laugh.

Who would have thought the twilight of Zeljko Kalac's colourful
career would be his best? The sun is obviously slow to set in Milan
- undisputedly one of the biggest clubs in the world - after Kalac,
35, finally unseated Brazilian Dida as first-choice goalkeeper at
the San Siro. Kalac moved to the club in 2005, happy to play
back-up to Brazil's World Cup keeper and claim the regular pay
cheque often elusive at financially troubled Perugia. An infamous
2006 World Cup blunder against Croatia and subsequent Socceroos
retirement appeared to signal the beginning of the end but this
season Dida was dumped and Kalac got the call. True, Milan have
been poor but that's not this goalkeeper's fault. Oh, and
Milan's global appeal makes Kalac the highest-profile Australian
player in the world.

3. Tim Cahill, Everton:The Toffees' prized
dynamo.

If you looked carefully you might have spotted Tim Cahill
training in Sydney's Hyde Park during the past week before an
operation to realign a metatarsal bone. A bundle of energy, Cahill
is the game-buster - his box-to-box running has earned him a goal
every three games, a phenomenal record for a midfielder. A fit
Cahill is highly influential for Everton, which is why they get
nervous whenever he's on Socceroos duty. "I won't be holding back,"
Cahill said recently of his commitment to Australia. "I'm only 28,
I've got another six years in the game and I can relax then." Yet
it's hard to believe that Cahill's whimsical decision to play for
Western Samoa's under-20 team - and unfathomable red tape - delayed
his debut for Australia until 2004.

4. Mark Schwarzer, Middlesbrough:The
veteran has a bright future.

After 11 years at Middlesbrough, it could be argued that life is
becoming somewhat routine in the English Premier League for Mark
Schwarzer. Yet he continues to keep things interesting at the
Riverside even if Middlesbrough maintain their record for mid-table
mediocrity. The 35-year-old's contract with Boro expires at the end
of this season, granting free agent status and the opportunity to
negotiate with other clubs. He may stay in England but transfer
tittle-tattle linking him with clubs in Europe is more than hot
air. Schwarzer has also recently been nominated, along with Mark
Bresciano, as the Asian Football Confederation's Player of the
Year. And in March he reminded us of his unique penalty-saving
talent when he stopped a spot kick in the final minute of
Australia's World Cup qualifier against China.

5. Vince Grella, Torino, Italy:The Aussie
battler knows how to tough it out in a fight.

A decade in Italy has made Grella one of the toughest and most
resolute of Australian players - ever. His Serie A debut was a
face-off with Juventus's midfield mongrel Edgar Davids and the
Australian, told by coaches at home he'd never make it to the top,
has since established himself as a guy not to be messed with in a
league where every minute of every match is a battle of mind and
body. After several seasons battling relegation with cash-strapped
Parma, Grella moved to Torino at the beginning of this season,
scored a rare goal and became embroiled in yet another relegation
scrap. But if adversity builds character, Grella is a tower of
power.

Emerton rarely hogs headlines but his dynamic energy makes him
the type of player coaches miss when he's not around. Evidence?
Watch again - if you can - the Socceroos' 2006 World Cup
heartbreaker against Italy. Guus Hiddink's missing link? The guy
from Campbelltown who was suspended. Emerton is the blueprint for
the future footballer - athletic and versatile. It's a model
designed in Holland, where, importantly, the Sydney Olympic prodigy
graduated to big-time football with Feyenoord. Blackburn Rovers
manager Mark Hughes also champions Emerton's qualities: "He's a
player who gives me a lot of options. He can carry the ball from
one end of the field to the other." As a guide to Emerton's engine,
he clocks over 12 kilometres per game and has been described as
Australia's fittest athlete.

Not that Jason Culina is getting blase about the size of his
trophy cabinet but three seasons at PSV Eindhoven have produced
three Dutch Championship medals under three different coaches. Add
Champions League campaigns and extended runs in the UEFA Cup and
Culina, another educated in Dutch football, is quietly amassing
unrivalled experience in Europe. His contract with PSV -
acknowledged as one of the world's top clubs with alumni including
Ronaldo, Romario, Ruud Gullit, Jaap Stam and Ruud van Nistelrooy -
expires on June 30. Do new challenges beckon?

Bresciano kicked off the season so sure he was going to move to
Manchester City that he was already training with the club and
house-hunting in north-west England. Then the games began, with
Palermo's volatile president Maurizio Zamparini recalling the
Socceroo to Sicily before the paperwork was signed. Bresciano
admitted the on-again, off-again transfer affected his early-season
form. Then coach Stefano Colantuono was sacked in November. January
sales came and went with Bresciano linked again with a move to
England, as well as within Italy, but Palermo's grip remained tight
even if they only started the Australian when their mood suited.
Hilariously, sort of, Colantuono was back in charge by March after
successor Francesco Guidolin was also sacked. Bresciano will be a
hot transfer target again during the off-season.

9. Lucas Neill, West Ham:Captain of a
big-name club.

Lucas Neill's first six months at West Ham were not short of
drama last year. The London club seemed doomed for relegation until
they beat Manchester United on the final day of the season. The
club lost saviour Carlos Tevez and struggled to attract the kind of
players needed to rise above the mid-table mire. Neill's own so-so
form was not helped by injuries to key players, meaning the same
defensive line-up was rarely sighted twice. But it's easy to forget
that Neill is the first Australian appointed captain of a Premier
League club bursting with history - a major achievement. Whether he
remains in East London next season could make for an intriguing
northern summer.

10. Mark Viduka, Newcastle United:The
enigma continues.

When Bolton boss Sam Allardyce took over at Newcastle United
last year, he made Mark Viduka his first signing, But, as we
continue to learn, things are rarely simple at St James's Park.
Viduka was in an out of the team and Newcastle were dire. By
January, Allardyce was gone, the Australian was hampered by an
Achilles injury, and his commitment to Australia remained
unresolved. Now he will miss upcoming World Cup qualifiers for an
operation. "It's been an up-and-down season for Newcastle and an
up-and-down one for me personally," he said. Socceroos coach Pim
Verbeek claims the striker remains a class act. "He is special. You
don't see players like him very often," he said last week.

They also served

Harry Kewell (Liverpool, England)

Another season ravaged by injury and rehab was further shaken up
by internal politics at Liverpool and indifference from Rafael
Benitez.

A move to the A-League is way off the radar, but when Kewell
strings together five straight games for any team anywhere else, he
will rocket back to the top of the list.

Josip Simunic (Hertha Berlin, Germany)

The man we love to hate but had the Canberra-born defender
declared allegiance to the country of his birth - the one that also
gave him his football education at the Australian Institute of
Sport - rather than his Croatian forefathers, "Simmo" would walk
into the Socceroos defence - and then cop a red card or two, no
doubt.

Luke Wilkshire (FC Twente, Holland)

The Wollongong native played a key role in his club making the
Dutch league's play-offs for a place in next season's Champions
League.

Unheralded by Socceroos fans but loved in Holland, Twente
extended his contract to 2012 - evidence there is life outside
England.

Mile Sterjovski (Derby County, England)

Derby were dire during this Premier League season but the
under-rated Sterjovski, another Wollongong product, has been a
shining light since joining the Rams in January from Turkish side
Genclerbirligi OFTAS.